The present invention relates to a roll-on applicator and more particularly to a roll-on applicator of the type employed in dispensing a deodorant/antiperspirant type product.
One of the more common containers employed in the field of toiletries is a roll-on applicator such as employed to dispense a plurality of materials which are applied to the skin of the user. These applicators are generally manufactured of a somewhat flexible plastic material bottle having a rigid spherical ball located in the bottle opening adjacent a necked down portion forming a basket for retaining the ball. The basket portion of the bottle is generally spherical and slightly larger than the ball, and the opening is formed to be of a diameter slightly less than that of the ball. By choosing a flexible material, the rigid ball is generally capable of being forced into the basket through the flexible top opening of the bottle, and is thereafter retained by the smaller diameter opening of the bottle.
In general, the plastics having the flexibility necessary to be employed in the manufacture of these roll-on applicators do not possess a glass or crystal-type clarity but generally fall in the category of opaque to translucent appearance when provided in the thicknesses required for a roll-on applicator of the type described.
Recently, it has been suggested that a clear liquid be employed in a roll-on applicator of the type described, a clear liquid in many instances being more attractive to the user as an indication of purity of contents or lack of residue when applied to the skin. In order to best display such a product, it is therefore necessary to construct a roll-on applicator having a glass or crystal clarity such that the viewer's examination of the product not be impaired.
In the field of plastics, there are few known materials which lend themselves to mass production and the low cost required in a throw-away receptacle such as the roll-on applicator in which the clear materials are to be employed. Two such materials are polyvinyl chloride and polyethylene terephthalate material better known as PVC and PET. However, in the thicknesses required of the these materials when employed in a bottle of the type under consideration, the materials are rigid rather than flexible and therefore assembly of the ball into the container as described above becomes impossible without breakage occurring when these materials are employed.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a roll-on applicator and a method of manufacturing the same wherein the applicator is of a material having a glass or crystal clarity for viewing the contents.
Another object of the invention is to provide a roll-on applicator and a method of manufacturing the same wherein the applicator is simple to manufacture from materials that are easily obtainable and are acceptable economically for employment in a discardable container designed for a single use.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a roll-on applicator and a method of the manufacturing the same wherein the applicator is manufactured of a minimum number of parts and from a manufacturing process which is susceptible to mass production techniques.